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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fork · wound · band · shower · arm · bat · lean · pitcher

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. shower — rain
  3. wound — an injury
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. lean — to bend
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a music group
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. wound — an injury
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. fork — in a road
  23. lean — thin
  24. arm — part of the body

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com